Etymograph

English

query

Query comes from Latin quaerō ‘seek, look for’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerō1‘seek, look for’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaere1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1661query1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English query
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1661, Joseph Glanvill, London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […]: “It’s queried whether there be any Science in the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerōWiktionary, English query‘seek, look for’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaereWiktionary, English query
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1661queryWiktionary, English query. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1661, Joseph Glanvill, London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […]: “It’s queried whether there be any Science in the…”

The story

An anglicisation of quere, an obsolete variant form of Latin quaere, second-person singular present active imperative of quaerō (‘seek, look for; ask’); perhaps suffixed with -y (‘abstract noun’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- ‘to acquire’

question, enquire, 10 more

through Proto-Italic *kʷaizō

conquest, questionnaire, 10 more

through Latin quaerō ‘seek, look for’

acquisition, inquiry, quest, exquisite, inquisition, inquire, conquer, requisite, enquiry, inquisitor, 12 more

Today it means

noun A question, an inquiry (US), an enquiry (UK).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “query”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin quaerō / query

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